"I must say, I shed a few tears last weekend," said the Democrat from Mukilteo.

Because Republicans and Democrats share power in the evenly split House, each party has a co-chairperson on every committee. They must agree before a vote can be held. In the state government committee, those co-chairwomen are Rep. Sandra Romero, D-Olympia, and Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Colville.

McMorris said she blocked the vote because "I'm very reluctant to continue to focus on setting up different definitions in statute related to the various minority groups. I'd really like to see us get beyond that."

When senators caught wind of the bill's death, members of both parties insisted in caucus that they resurrect it, Shin said. Thursday, the Senate attached the measure as an amendment to a technical bill sponsored by McMorris that they passed unanimously.

Sen. Dan McDonald, R-Bellevue, who sponsored the amendment, said different ethnic communities get along in the United States because, "we're able to be sensitive to (hurtful) symbols. This is one of those symbols. So let's get rid of it."

Yesterday, Shin fought back tears again as he described the unlikely alliance of senators who wouldn't let the proposal die quietly. "It was a very heartwarming session," he said. "I am grateful to be here."

But the proposal still faces an uncertain future in the House. Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee, said the amendment is attached to a bill that corrects obsolete language in public-disclosure laws and that violates a constitutional requirement that amendments stick to the same topic as the underlying bill. "Doesn't the Constitution mean anything?" he said.

"When the discussion was going on with (Shin's) bill, there was suddenly a flurry of activity wanting to have all politically correct titles to different people," Ballard said. "I don't know the details yet, but that's kind of an endless road.

"If someone is trying to make this into discrimination, I think they're just going down the wrong track," Ballard said. He added that he has a daughter-in-law who is "Latino, Mexican -- any more it's hard to know what you're supposed to call them," and that he's "darn proud" of his two Latino grandsons.

"No matter what nationality you are, you're a U.S. citizen," he said. "You have every right, and I will defend that to my last breath."

Shin said he would not give up the fight for his proposal. "If they don't pass it, so be it," Shin said. "We'll try again next year."

Shin has heard from a half-dozen other states hoping to pass similar laws. "I'm glad that Washington state is leading in that kind of human acceptance," he said.

Shin, who taught history for 31 years, said "Oriental" stems from 17th-century English imperialism, and implies that Asian Americans are mysterious, passive, exotic, funny and quiet, he said. "It's demeaning to Asians," he said. "It is like calling black folks 'Negroes.'"